GOOD FRIDAY - "ECCE HOMO"

CARAVAGGIO - "Ecce Homo" - Palazzo Rosso, Genoa

John 19:5

So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’

Isaiah 53:1-5

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.

Caravaggio is one of my many favorite painters. When I walk into a museum gallery with one or more of his paintings on the walls, my eyes are immediately drawn to them, and I catch my breath. The dramatic contrast of light and shade is stunning.

In the comments to my blog friend Counterlight's excellent post on the artist, I said to him, "All through looking at the paintings and reading your commentary, I thought, 'Incarnation. Incarnation.' That's one of Caravaggio's great gifts to us in religious painting."

However true that may be, it's not surprising that the obvious eroticism in certain of the artist's paintings on religious subjects drew rather heavy criticism his way. Caravaggio died at the young age of 38. Considering his short life as a painter, his legacy is extraordinary.

Collect of the Day: Good Friday

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

Reposted from an earlier Good Friday.

PETER AND THOMAS AND GOD'S WOMAN

MANFREDI, Bartolomeo
The Denial of St Peter

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’
....

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, ‘You are not also one of his disciples, are you?’ He denied it and said, ‘I am not.’ One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him?’ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

(Gospel of John 18:15-17, 25-27)

CARAVAGGIO - The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

But Thomas (who was called the Twin ), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."  Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe."  Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"  Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

(Gospel of John 20:24-29)

God's Woman

Peter, Thomas, are you my kin?
I call you, "Brother". Are we alike?
You imperfect ones, a doubter, a denier,
Am I your sister?

"I tell you I do not know him!"
Three times your Lord denied.
Oh, Peter, when you heard the cock crow,
Your salty tears were bitter.

You, Thomas, to touch, to see was all.
"Me believe? When I see the nail marks,
When I put my finger in his side."
"My Lord and my God!"

You, my brothers, deeply, fully human,
You flaw-filled men of God,
You give me strength; you give me courage.
Perhaps I'll be God's woman, after all.

(June Butler 4/18/07)

Images from the Web Gallery of Art.

CARAVAGGIO - "JOHN THE BAPTIST"

Caravaggio - "John the Baptist"
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

Caravaggio's painting at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City caused me to gasp as soon as I walked into the gallery and spotted it. I made a beeline to it to get a closer look and read the details. I did not instantly recognize it as a Caravaggio, but I should have.  What a masterpiece!

The contrast of the light and shadow is superb, with the eyes and the background shaded and the torso, the arms, and one leg in the light. Then, there's the striking dark slash across the torso from the shadow of the arm and the contrast of the luscious vermillion (?) of the cloak. This is a pensive John the Baptist, wearing a colorful and elegant cloak (the likes of which he almost certainly never wore). Even looking at the reproduction causes me to catch my breath.

Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Vermeer are included in my top ten list of painters I love.  I'd have to give a little thought to the rest of the list.

Thanks to my Facebook friend Richard, who reminded me that today is the anniversary of Caravaggio's death on in 1610 and inspired me to post again on the painting and artist whose work I love.

Image from Wikipedia. 

GOOD FRIDAY - "ECCE HOMO"

CARAVAGGIO - "Ecce Homo" - Palazzo Rosso, Genoa

John 19:5

So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’

Isaiah 53:1-5

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.

Caravaggio is one of my many favorite painters. When I walk into a museum gallery with one or more of his paintings on the walls, my eyes are immediately drawn to them, and I catch my breath. The dramatic contrast of light and shade is stunning.

In the comments to my blog friend Counterlight's excellent post on the artist, I said to him, "All through looking at the paintings and reading your commentary, I thought, 'Incarnation. Incarnation.' That's one of Caravaggio's great gifts to us in religious painting."

However true that may be, it's not surprising that the obvious eroticism in certain of the artist's paintings on religious subjects drew rather heavy criticism his way. Caravaggio died at the young age of 38. Considering his short life as a painter, his legacy is extraordinary.

Collect of the Day: Good Friday

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

THE FAITH...ENTRUSTED TO THE SAINTS

Caravaggio - "Supper at Emmaus"

In the present Anglican disagreements, we hear much talk of the leadership of the Episcopal Church having left "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." Because of what seems to me the unthinking overuse of the phrase and one other phrase, the accusation that the Episcopal Church has "torn the fabric of the Anglican Communion", my reaction to hearing the words is pretty similar to my reaction to the sound of scratches on a chalkboard.

The former phrase, which is my present concern, is from Jude 1:3:

Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

I've just begun to read Diarmaid MacCullough's Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. On page 10 of the introduction to the book, are the following words:

The passions which have gone into the construction of a world faith are if nothing else the catalyst for enormous human creativity in literature, music, architecture and art. To seek an understanding of Christianity is to see Jesus Christ in the mosaics and icons of Byzantium, or in the harshly lit features of the man on the road to Emmaus, as Caravaggio painted him. Looking up at the heavily gilt ceiling of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, one should realize that all its gold was melted down from temples across the Atlantic Ocean, sent as a tribute to the Christian God and to the Catholic Church by the king of Spain, the theft accompanied or justified by the frequent misuse of the name of Christ. The sound of Christian passion is heard in the hymns of John and Charles Wesley, bringing pride, self confidence and divine purpose to the lives of poor and humble people struggling to make sense of a new industrial society in Georgian Britain. It shapes the divine abstractions of the organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach. During the drab and mendacious tyranny of the German Democratic Republic, a Bach organ recital could pack out a church with people seeking something which spoke to them of objectivity, integrity and serene authenticity. All manifestations of Christian consciousness need to be taken seriously; from a craving to understand the ultimate purpose of God, which has produced terrifying visions of the Last Days, to the instinct to comfortable socialbility, which has led to cricket on the Anglican vicarage lawn.

Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome - Gilt ceiling

So then with reference to "the faith...entrusted to the saints", was there a cut-off date when the faith was "once for all" established as given? Surely, the first century was not the end of revealed faith. Was it the second century? The third? The Council of Nicea? A later council? Was the Reformation all a mistake? A departure from the "faith...entrusted to the saints"?

With all the variety in Christianity over the centuries, who is in, and who is out? I'm asking questions only, not answering the questions. Do we see Jesus in the Caravaggio painting? Do we see Jesus in the glorious gilt ceiling in Santa Maria Maggiore, tainted though it is by the history that made its beauty possible? My queries are sparked by the words in the quote above, which seem to me very right. There's room in the Church, the Body of Christ, for great diversity, and it appears to me that we humans are the ones who confine the faith, who set boundaries which are perhaps not of God.

And what of the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the Church and individuals?

‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:12-15)

Who discerns which movement or work is of the Spirit? Testing the fruits over a period of time by a broad swath of the Christian community would seem to me a likely way to move forward to consensus if we do not wish to quench the Spirit. Enlarge the circle.

"FOR A CHILD HAS BEEN BORN FOR US...."

Caravaggio - "Adoration of the Shepherds" - 1609 - Museo Nazionale, Messina

O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen

Isaiah 9:2-7

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onwards and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

A BLESSED AND MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!